Plumstead Fire Station

A fire station built in 1907 by the Fire Stations Division of the London County Council, with minor later alterations. It is constructed of red brick with stone dressings, stone corner and return, and slate roof.

The building's exterior is notable for two principal elevations that take advantage of its prominent corner location. The Plumstead High Street elevation is grand in palazzo style, with a giant order of paired Ionic pilasters on the upper storeys dividing alternating round-arched and flat-arched windows, all with moulded stone surrounds. The ground floor features handsome windows and doors with simple flat brick arches, stone keystones, and stone lugged surrounds with segmental tops. The giant order is terminated at each corner by a single Ionic pilaster and a large stone-clad void continuing on both returns.

The Lakedale Road elevation shares a prominent dentil cornice and moulded entablature with the High Street façade but is designed in Queen Anne domestic style. It has a central doorway recessed in a segmental-headed stone surround with lugs, and three sash windows on each of the upper two storeys, with flat-gauged brick arches; the first floor windows are replacements. Further along this elevation are two appliance bays with replaced doors, set in an attractive lugged opening with a tiled fascia reading 'L.C.C. FIRE BRIGADE STATION PLUMSTEAD'. This section steps down to two storeys and is entirely faced in stone. The first floor has replaced sash windows and an oculus. A hipped slate roof is concealed by the parapet, but many tall brick chimneys with projecting upper courses are visible features. A handsome lamp reading 'FIRE' on its glass and its bracket were once mounted at the corner but have been removed, leaving scars in the stonework.

The rear elevation has been determined mainly by function, though tall chimneys, a semi-circular ground floor window, and a curved gable provide lively features. It is largely unaltered. Two large appliance bay entrances recall the former use of horse-drawn fire vehicles, which could not be reversed into the front bays and so were driven in via the rear yard. Evidence of formerly extended external railed walkways—which provided access to firemen's accommodation on upper storeys—survives in darker brick and blocked openings under segmental arches on the eastern section. Several windows and doors have been replaced.

The interior retains its original plan form and the open space of the appliance bays, the office-like environment of the watch room and ground floor spaces, and the domestic-style accommodation upstairs containing an Edwardian fireplace. Notable features include the wood casing and doors to the sliding pole, the staircase with metal balusters and handrail, and a number of original doors.

Plumstead Fire Station was opened in June 1907 by Rupert Guinness, Chairman of the Fire Brigade Committee of the London County Council. The building replaced a number of small houses, one of which had served as a post office from at least the 1860s. At about the same time, a Methodist Chapel on the opposite corner was demolished for the bank building that stands there today. The building has been little altered since 1907, despite the transition from horse-drawn fire vehicles to motorised fire engines.